The present invention relates to the production of articles of clothing and finds particular application in conjunction with the forming of shirt collars and will be described with reference thereto.
Conventionally, a shirt collar, after being attached to the shirt, is one continuous piece of fabric where the collar is attached at the shirt body's neck opening and went continuously around the neck from one flap or wing in the front of the shirt until reaching the other flap or wing located opposite the first flap or wing.
The collar, including a neck portion, and the flaps or wings are constructed to be turned downwardly with respect to a neck band along a formed line. An elongated semi-rigid element is disposed within the flaps or wings of the collar. The collar itself is constructed such that it exhibited rigid or stiff characteristics. The flaps or wings of the collar stay in place due to the semi-rigid composition of the collar and the semi-rigid element disposed within the flaps or wings.
The semi-rigid composition of the material allows the collar to be placed in an upwardly position for the placement of a tie or other such article around the collar, thereafter, the collar is folded downwardly to cover the tie or other such article which encircles the neck.
In collars of this type, no fastening of the flap section in the downward position is provided. The only reason the collar remains in the down position is due to the fold line in the upper collar section and the rigidity of the collar material. Due to this design feature, the flaps of the collar have a tendency to move and flip up upon encountering a force, such as a gust of wind. Additionally, after frequent washing or dry cleaning, such collars have a tendency to lose the aforementioned semi-rigidity, thereby allowing the collars to curl either inwardly or outwardly destroying the collar's function of concealing a garment, such as a tie, underneath the collar.
Various means have been employed to avoid the above-mentioned problems. One solution has been to produce an eyelet in the lower section of the collar's flap and introduce a button-holding arrangement in order to maintain the flap in a down position. Another means of dealing with the above-mentioned problems has been through the use of a tie tac where small holes are produced in each of the shirt's flaps and a rigid material is passed through the two holes, connecting the two holes and then securing the rigid material to maintain this interconnection.
Due to normal wear and tear, accompanied with the use of the shirt and the washing or dry cleaning of the shirt, the button-type arrangement as described above has a tendency to have the buttons become either lost or destroyed, thereby making the button-type arrangement non-functional. Additionally, after a certain amount of dry cleaning or washing, the eyelets used in the button-type arrangement tend to become distorted and, thereafter, do not maintain the button in a secure position. In a tie tac arrangement, the tie tac is a completely separate element from the shirt itself, damage to the tie tac or loss of the rigid material making up the tie tac causes this arrangement to become inoperative.
In accordance with the present invention, a shirt collar which is more reliable in maintaining its flaps in a downwardly position is provided.